Providence, R.I. -
The Providence College men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Cincinnati in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship Wednesday afternoon at Glay Field.

In the 12th minute, the Friars generated a scoring chance off of a corner kick taken by sophomore Justin Kahle (Oceanport, N.J.). Kahle found freshman Michael Pereira (London, Ont.) at the near post, but his drive was cleared off the line by a Cincinnati defender. In the 27th minute, the Friars developed another quality scoring chance when freshman Alex Redding (Newton, Mass.) found senior Ryan Maduro (Bristol, R.I.) at the top of the box, but Maduro's shot was sent over the bar. But it was Cincinnati that got on the board first in the 33rd minute, as Kenny Anaba took a shot that was blocked, but the Bearcats' Mark Konitsch crossed in the loose ball that was headed by Patrick Baxter. Baxter's shot deflected off PC goalkeeper Tim Murray (Haverhill, Mass.) and just over the goal line. After one half of play, the Bearcats held a 1-0 lead.

In the 54th minute the Friars had an opportunity to tie the game off of a free kick. Maduro played a ball into the box that was headed off the cross bar by freshman Matt Marcin (Wilmington, Del.). Then, in the 66th minute Maduro played a corner kick into the box that was flicked toward the net by Matt Otte (East Lyme, Conn.). The Bearcat defense was able to clear the ball out to PC's Alex Bury (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who had a go from 20 yards, but Cincinnati's Miguel Rosales made the save. In the 86th minute the Bearcats increased their lead to 2-0 and sealed the victory when Anaba received a through ball from Matt Telting at the top of the box and slid the ball past Murray. The goal was Anaba's 10th tally of the season.

With the loss, the Friars fall to 9-7-2 while the Bearcats improve to 9-9-1. Cincinnati will travel to Chicago, Ill. to take on No. 1 seed DePaul on Saturday. The match will begin at 2:00 p.m.